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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Mil nil I II nil III III 



013 744 338 7 






REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 






CiTT Hall, July 12, 1S62. 

Oil the first day of November, 1861, a Society 
of Ladies called the " Army Reliet Association" 
was organized in the city of Albany. It was 
intended to co operate with the United States 
Sanitary Commission at Washington, in its 
efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of our sick 
and wounded soldiers in the hospitals and in 
the camps, and as soon as its organization was 
effected it went at once into active operation; 
Mrs. E. D. Morgan h( ing duly elected its Pre- 
sident. 

Of the practical woikicg and effective con- 
dition of this organization, its Executive Com- 
mittee now present the following report : — 

Cash Receipts. 
Received through Ward Committees, as per 

acknowledgments published $577 50 

Unexpended balance from Kansas Re- 
lief Fund, through Hon. George H. 

Thacher 220 91 

Unexpended balance from Soldiers 
Thanegiving Dinner, through David 

Murray, Esq 90 31 

From Hon. J. G. Saxe's Lecture 213 12 

Ferry St. Methodist, Sunday School . . 25 00 

Ferry Street Methodist Church 28 00 

J. Page and Son (for employees) 40 00 

Gross Total $1,193 84 



Disbursements. 

Ubsdell, Pierson & Co., (for goods furnish- 
ed) $467 38 

J. M. CraDO, (for goods furnished,). . 227 98 

Morrel & Read, " . . 54 94 

Wm. McElroy & Son, " . . 89 96 

B. & R. L Spelman, •' . . 15 26 

Sheldon & Co., " . . 16 CO 

Van Sickler & For by, " . . 18 00 

Dickerman, " . . 10 96 

Clifton & Co., " . . 10 00 

Sweet & TiDgley " . . 4 63 

Lord & Son, " .. 51 

Tucker, Crawford & Rector, 4 00 

Expenses of agent (Geo. H. Thacher) 

to Wf shington, 50 00 

Miss Cary, (for special uses at City 

Hospital) 15 00 

Total $934 56 

Leaving an unexpended balance in 
the Treasury of $358 38 

During the months of December and Janu- 
ary, 27 boxes and 3 barrels of Hospital supplies 
(No. 1 to No. 30 inclusive) wtre sent to the 
Sanitary Commission at Washington, and ac- 
knowledgments received therefrom of their 
safe arrival. These boxes contained the fol- 
lowing articles: Bed Ticks, 50; Comforters, 
167; Blankets, 101; Sheets, 367; Pillow Cases, 
215; PDlows, 67; Cushions and Compresses, 






407; Towels, 348; Woolen Socks, 702 pairs; 
Handkerchiefs, 293; Cotton Drawers, 207; 
Canton Flannel Drawers, 87 ; Canton Flannel 
Bed Gowns, 83; Double Gowns, 118; Mittens, 
51 pairs ; Canton Flannel shirts, 41 ; Cotton 
and WocUen Shirts, 46; Cotton Shirts, 47; 
Back Gammon Boards, 23 ; large quantities of 
old Linen, Lint, Bandages, Books and Maga- 
zines. 

In February the small pox broke out with 
great violence in the Military Hospital at 
PlattBburgh. and application was made to this 
Association for proper hospital garments. A 
box (No. 31) was at once dispatched to that 
post, which contaioed — Comfortables 25; Bed- 
Ticks 25; Pillow Ticks 25; Sheets 40; Pil- 
low Cases 50 ; Towels 50 ; Pairs Socks 50 ; 
Canton Flannels and Bed Gowns G ; Dressiog 
Gowns G; Woolen Stiirts 6; Woolen Drawers 
6 pairs; Cushions G ; Preserves, Chocolate, 
Farina, Corn Starch, bundle old Linen, Maga- 
zines, Books, &c. 

On the 19 th of February a petition was re- 
ceived ffom the 93d Regiment, (Morgan Rifles,) 
stating that they were under marching ord*;irs, 
and asking for hospital supplies, to be taken 
with the Regiment. The petition was granted 
and a box (No. 32) was packed with the fal- 
lowing articles : — Socks 50 pairs ; Towels 50 ; 
Flannel Shirts G; Flannel Drawers 6; Flannel 
Bed Gowns G ; Woolen Shirts 2 ; Double 
Gowns 4; Pillow Ticks and Cases 10; Pocket 
Handkerchifcfs 7; Blankets 2; Slippers 4 pairs; 
Bottles Bourbon Whiskey 2; 1 piece India 
Rubber Cloih ; Cooa, Corn Starch, Farina, 
Ginger, Mastard, Saucepans, S^ap, Bindages, 
Liat, old Linen, Flannel, tfcc. 

Another box (No. 33) was also sent to Miss 
Lawrence, a hospital nurse at Washington. 
These boxes have all been received and pro- 
perly acknowledged. 

In January a Committee was appointed to 
visit and ascertained the necessities of the sol- 
diers in the City Hospital on Eagle street Li- 
beral Supplies were donated whenever needed, 
and money placed in the hands of Miss Gary, 
(see Disbursements, ) to be used at her discre- 
tion in relieving wants not otherwise provided 
for. This Committee also distributed among 
the soldiers at the Barracks, during the months 
of February and January, the following arti- 
cles :— Mittens 472 pairs; Socks 882 pairs; 



Qailts 110; Towels 40; iieavy Aprons for 
kitchen use 25 

The Post Hospital, connected with the 
Barracks last winter, when first organised, 
lacked nearly every essential that should char- 
acterise such an establishment. The Hospital 
Committee was authorised to visit it and re- 
port cich week its condition and its needs; 
and the following articles were sent there from 
time to time, as occasion required :-- -Bed Ticks, 
Pillow Ticks, Sheets, Pillow Cases, Towels, 
Handkerchiefs, China Cups, Night Caps, Neck 
Comforters, Mustard, Bandages, Compresses, 
Lint, Wine, Jellies, Cocoa, Farina, Lemons, 
Books, Magazines, &c. 

In March an urgent appeal was again made 
to the philanthropic citizens of the loyal States. 
The great Army of the Potomac had moved, 
and battles fought upon the field were soon to 
throng the hospitals with their awful harvest 
of wounded and dying men. Increased zeal 
on the part of the Society, aided by the willing 
hands of our lady friends outside the organiza- 
tion, soon enabled it to send to the Branch 
Depot in New York six large boxes (Nos. 34, 
35, 36, 37, 33 and 39) of new and valuable gar- 
ments, chiefly cotton and flannel Shirts, Bed 
Gowns, Drawers, Double Gowns and Slippers, 
Sheets, Pillow Cases, Bed Ticks and Blankets. 
Two barrels of Books and Magazines were also 
sent, and acknowledgments received of their 
safe arrival. At a meeting held on the 9tn of 
April, a communication was received from 
Quartermaster General Van Vechten, stating 
that the Secretary of War had decided to use 
the Barracks at Albany as a Military Post Hos- 
pital, and asking the assistance of the Society 
in preparing it for occupation, by a centribu- 
tioa of hospital stores and by assuming the 
making up of the necessary bedding. It was 
decided to assume the added responsibility, 
and the Committee choiea to confer with the 
Quartermaster General present the following 
report of the articles purchased and made up 
under the direction of the Society during the 
month of April : — 

Contents of boxes consigned to Quartermas- 
ter General Van Vechten for Mditary Hospital 
at Albany Barracks: — 

Box ^'o. 1—400 Sheets, 400 Pillow Cases, 400 
Pillow Ticks. 

iVo. 2—432 Sheets. 



W MXCHAnot 



No. 3—253 Sheets, 708 Pillow Casts. 

No. 4—323 Sheets, 396 Pillow Oases. 

No. 5-219 Pillow Cases, 100 Pillow Ticks, 

Total— Sheets, 1300; Pillow Cases, 1337; 
Pillow Ticks, 89G. 

We have received, since last November, 
boxes from the fallowing Societies, some of 
which have been repacked and some sent to 
Washington unopened, as we were directed by 
the donors : — 

Guilderland Centre Relief Society, one box. 

Green bush Relief Society, one box. 

Soldiers' Need Society, New Scotland, one 
box. 

Newtonville Society, one box. 

Guilderland (box for Miss Lawrence), one box. 

Coeymans Ladies' Relief Association, one 
box. 

Soldiers' Friend Society of Coeymans Land- 
ing, one box. 

Ladies' Benevolent Society, Baptist Churc'r", 
Schenectady, one box. 

Ladies of East Schodack, one box. 

Ladies of Westerlo, one box. 

Ladies' Aid Society, Knox, one box. 

Soldiers' Aid Society, Chatham Four Corners 
one box. 

Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., one box. 

Soldiers' Aid Society, Coeymans, one box. 
, Soldiers' Aid Society, Rensselaer v'e, one box. 

Gloveisville, (per Mrs. Cor win), one box. 

Coeymans, (for 18th Regiment), one box. 

Medway, Greene Co., N. Y., one box. 

The Committee cannot close this Report 
without an expression of its obligation to the 
many Iriends who have so faithfully stood by 
the Association since its formation, aiding it 
as much by their wise counsels, as by their 
personal superitilendetice and attention to its 
many outside dutieg. This tribute is especially 
due to lion. Gecrge H. Ihacher, whose per- 
sistent and untiricg devotion to the best in- 
terests of the Society, merits more than this 
slight acknowledgment. The uniform kind- 
ness and courtesy which has characterized all 
his relations with us, can never be forgotten by 
those who have been associated with him dur- 
ing the past winter at the City Hall. 

To William McElroy, and to the firm of 
Yan Sickler & Forby, the Committee would 
also speak one word of acknowledgment. 
The necessary manual labor connected with 
packing and marking large boxes has been 



most kindly assumed by these gentlemen, and 
no pressure of private bueiness has ever inter- 
fered to prevent their immediate personal 
attention to this duty, whenever their services 
were required by the packing Committee. 

In December last, Hon. J. G. Saxe, of our 
city, delivered, for the benefit of the Society, 
his elegant essay on " Poetrj and the Poets," 
not only delighting those of our citizens who 
heard it, but most substantially adding to our 
cash receipts. A public recognition of our 
gratitude is due to him ; and yet we know that 
he finds his reward less in the thanks of those 
ladies whom he so courteously assisted, than 
in the consciousness that his thoughtful kind- 
ness has carried comfort and health to many a 
patriot soldier who, far from home and friends, 
was languishing and dying in the dreary wards 
of a military hospital. 

To Weed, Parsons & Co., and to the proprie- 
tors of the Evening Journal and Atlas and 
Argus, are we especially indebted. They have 
not only cheerfully and gratuitously, printed 
all the necessary circulars, cards, papers, t&c, 
used by the Society, but the former have pre- 
sented it a large volume, prepared expressly 
as a book of Record and intended for preserva- 
tion in the office of the County Clerk. This 
book contains a complete record of all the con- 
tributions received by the Relief Association, 
the Reports of the Treasurer and the several 
Committees, the account opeaed with the San- 
itary Commission, the minutes of the Execu- 
tive Committee, together with such other mat- 
ter relating to the Society as miy be deemed 
worthy of preserv-uion. The Editura of our 
city newspapers have always cheerfully recog- 
nised our claims upon their columns and in- 
serted our notices and advertisements with a 
readiness that changed the embarrassment of 
asking such favors into a pleasure. To the 
Ladies of the several Societie?, who, in this and 
the adjoining towns have labored with us, and 
sent us such ample evidence of their efficiency 
and zial, we are profoundly grateful. Without 
their aid we should have ofcen found oiirselves 
unable to meet the c<il!s ?o ur2;en11y made up- 
on us, and we thank them lor demonstrating 
that, although removed from that active stim- 
ulus of personal contact and association with 
the war, which so often stirs our flagging sym- 
pathies in the cities, the fiire of patriotic zeal 
bums as brightly and warmly as though t'neir 



hearts were daily touched by the sight (now, 
alas ! become so common to us,) of sick and 
wounded and dying men. 

This Report would be incomplete did the 
Committee fail to recognise the generous dona- 
tion sent us last December by the religious 
community of Shakers at Niskayuna. Pre- 
vented by their religious faith from accepting 
that stirring call to arms which roused the 
whole Nation a little more than a year ago, 
their hearts opened at once to that second ap- 
peal, which asked for aid in behalf of those 
who, answering the one, had left it to a great 
Christian people to answer the other. Their 
quaint but decided protest against " the bloody 



trade of war" was offset by such generous 
supplies of everything that could be used in a 
military hospital, that our suffering soldiers 
could well afford to forgive their logic while 
they demonstrated so well in their ^rac^ice that 
" One touch of Nature makes the whole earth kin." 
Mrs. B. D. MORGAN, Mrs. ELI PERRY, 



WM. B. SPRA.GUE, 
B. P. ROGERS, 
S. T. 8EELYE, 
RAY PALMER, 
MARK TRAFTON, 
A. D. MAYO, 
J. McNAUGHTON, 



THOMAS HUN, 
JACOB LANSING, 
RANSOM, 
JAMES HALL, 
OTIS ALLEN, 
GEO. B. STEELE, 
Miss C. PRUYN. 



CHAS. M. JENKINS, Mrs. WM. BARNES, 
GEO. H. THACHER,Ezecntive Ccmmittee. 



ARMY RELIEF ASSOCIATION 



CITY OF ^LBA-N^Y 



REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



City Hall, November 1, 1862. 
To the citizens of Albany : 

One year having elapsed since the organization 
of the Army Relief Association of the city of 
Albany, its Executive Committee, in pursuance 
of established custom, desires to render an ac- 
count of its stewardship. 

An elaborate and careful report of the effective 
condition and practical working of this Associa- 
tion having been published last July, it is 
deemetl unnecessary to repeat in detail the 
statements then made, and they will be reviewed 
as briefly as possible in connection with this re- 
port. We had hoped that with that publication 
our term of service might cease, and that no 
further need of voluntary organized charity for 
military hospitals might exist ; but early in Sep- 
tember an urgent appeal was again made to us ; 
the warehouses of the Sanitary Commission 
were drained to answer a new demand, and the 
necessity for renewed action was pressed upon 
us with an awful distinctness when we saw that 
New York counted her wounded and dying sons 
by thousands on the bloody fields of South 
Mountain and Antietam. We again called upon 
our friends to assist us in the preparation of 
proper articles for hospital use, and through 
their zeal and eflSciency we were enabled before 
the close of the month to send to the Commis- 
sion twenty-four boxes of supplies. But our 
funds were nearly exhausted, and our Receiving 
room, after the last invoice of goods had left the 
City Hall, was entirely bare and empty. After 
much anxious deliberation it was decided that a 
call should be made upon the Clergymen of our 
city, asking their co-operation and assistance, 
and urging them to take up Contributions in 
their several churches in aid of the Commis- 



sion. The following will show with what readi- 
ness the call was answered : 

Ferry street Methodist Episcopal 

Church (Rev. Mr. Bowen), |234 00 

Second Presbyterian Church (Rev. Dr. 

Sprague), 200 00 

St. Joseph's Church (Right Rev. J. J. 

Conroy), 102 00 

St. Peter's Church (Rev. Mr. Wilson), 95 59 
First Reformed Protestant Dutch 

Church (Rev. ), 84 09 

First Congregational Church (Rev. Dr. 

Palmer) 75 00 

Fourth Presbyterian Church (Rev. Dr. 

Seeley), 61 69 

Third Presbyterian Church (Rev. Dr. 

Halley), 40 86 

First Baptist Church (Rev. Dr. Ma- 
goon), 60 40 

First Unitarian Church (Rev. Mr. 

Mayo), 34 00 

United Presbytertan Church (Rev. Mr. 

Morrow), 28 50 

Church of the Holy Innocents (Rev. 

Mr. Johnson), 19 57 

Evangelical Lutheran Church (Rev. 

Dr. Pohlman), 17 10 

State street Baptist Church (Rev. Mr. 

Arthur) 12 02 

Hudson street Methodist Church 

(Rev. Mark Trafton), 10 00 

$1,074 32 
From private contributions since Sep- 
tember 1st, 197 47 

Carried forward, $1,271 79 



■ A-32 



Brought forward 1,271 79 

Balance in the treasury, September 1st, 261 84 



Total $1,533 63 

We have expended since September 

1st, 1,050 00 

Leaving an unexpended balance in 
the treasury of, $483 63 

Since our organization one year ago, we have 
packed and sent to the Sanitary Commission, 
97 boxes of hospital supplies. These boxes were 
mainly filled with garments, the materials for 
which were purchased and made up under the 
direction of the society. Acknowledgments have 
been received of their safe arrival, in every 
instance. The following list (necessarily incom- 
plete, for it comprises only the most important 
articles made, and omits much that is included 
in the summer report) will partially show the 
amount of work cut out and prepared for hospi- 
tal use, during the year : 



Sheets, 1,847 

Pillow Cases, ... 1,584 

Bed Ticks, 149 

Pillow Ticks, .... 935 
Comfortables, ... 282 

Shirts, 983 

Drawers, pairs,.. 355 



Bed Gowns 100 

Wrappers 118 

Flannel Shirts,.. 320 

Socks, pairs, 1,684 

Mittens, pairs, . . 523 

Towels, 680 

Handkerchiefs, . . 600 



Of these articles, the young ladies of Miss 
Skerritt's school made 1,000 pillow cases, and 
the young ladies of the Female Academy, 440 
sheets. 

We have received boxes from the following 
tqwns, since September 1st : 
. iGallupville — 1 box. 
I . 'JBrockett's Bridge, Herkimer county — 1 box. 

Rensselaerville — 1 box. 

Greeubush Aid Society — 3 barrels and 5 boxes. 

Schenevus — 1 box. 

Middleburgh, Schoharie county — 1 box. 

Worcester, Otsego county — 1 box. 

Nassau, Rensselaer county — 1 box . 

Unknown — 3 boxes. 

Early in September we were not fied by the 
assistant Secretary of the Commission that our 
boxes must hereafter be sent to the central depot 
at New York. As some prejudice seemed to 
exist in the public mind regarding this medium 
of transit, a member of the Executive committee 
visited this depot (No. 11 Cooper Union), to ascer- 
tain if there were any grounds for the absurd 
runaors in circulation. Every facility was af- 
forded her for the strictest scrutiny, and the 
result of the investigation was eminently satis- 
factory. Those who have assumed the labor and 
responsibility consequent upon a proper dis- 
charge of the duties connected with this depot 
are ladies whose very names are a sufficient 
guaranty of fidelity. Through all the long hot 
months of the past summer, these devoted 
women have been at their post, unpacking, 
assorting and repacking heavy boxes and bar- 
rels, performing manuaf labor that only the high 
inspiration of patriotism could render endura- 
ble ; some of them daily visiting the hospitals 



in the city, others going do^vn on the transports 
sent by the Sanitary Commission to Fortress 
Monroe during the Peninsular campaign, and 
returning with their living freight of sick and 
wounded men, they cheered and nursed and com- 
forted as only women can, the long hours of 
agony that marked those tedious voyages. 
Could but the sad record of only cne voyage 
be published, the most industrious and noisy 
calumniator of this noble charity would be 
shamed into silence. Many complaints having 
been made that the Commission have caused the 
goods sent them to be repacked in New York 
and detained there for a time, a word of expla- 
nation is due to the public regarding this arrange- 
ment. It is true that the goods consigned to the 
Central Relief Society ore repacked and assorted 
in New York city, and remain there subject to 
orders from Washington. The reasons are obvi- 
ous. Boxes sent by individuals, and by the 
several aid societies throughout the state, con- 
tain a great variety of articles, more or less 
needed, and these articles must all be assorted 
and repacked before they are ready to answer 
the requisitions of the surgeons in the general 
and regimental hospitals. This labor, originally 
undertaken at Washington, has grown with the 
growth of the Commission until it is now formi- 
dable in its tax upon voluntary service. If not 
performed in Washington, it must be done else- 
where, and as a portion of it is willingly and 
gratuitously assumed in New York, by ladies 
whose efficiency has been tested by nearly two 
years' service, it has been deemed more safe to 
entrust it to their voluntary supervision than to 
the care of paid employes at Washington, 
whose cupidity might be excited by the contin- 
ual passage of marketable articles through their 
hands. 

These boxes when repacked and ready for 
transportation to Washington, are no longer 
heterogeneous in their character; shirts are 
packed in separate boxes and regularly invoiced, 
and drawers, sheets, pillow cases, &c., &c.. fol- 
low the same order. When a telegiaph from 
Washington calls for two or three thousand 
shirts or drawers, these boxes are at once sent 
OD, and are ready for delivery at any of the hos- 
pitals, immediately upon their arrival at Wash- 
ington. 

A careful, personal inspection of the system, 
both in New York and Washington, comprising 
an examination of the store houses at both pla- 
ces, has satisfied the Albany Association that 
the best (as it is certainly the most accessible) 
depot for its consignments, is at the Cooper Union, 
and we have therefore (with a few exceptions), 
sent the, boxes from the City Hall directly to 
that point. Up to the date of our previous re- 
port (July 1st), the Quartermaster-General had 
transmitted our supplies to Washington without 
expense to the Association. The last call for 
troops having been made by the General Govern- 
ment, he was not authorized to assume again this 
responsibility, and the added item vt "freight" 
threatened our treasury, already sadly depleted 
by the advanced price wliich we were compelled 



IN BXCHAHrof 



to pay for all cotton and woolen goods. Our 
thanks are publicly due to the American Ex- 
press and River Transportation Companies, wlio 
at once stated their willingness to aid us, and 
have ever since promptly and gratuitously for- 
warded all our boxes to New York, and deliver- 
ed them at the Cooper Institute. 

Probably no purely benevolent society has ever 
fully satisfied its friends, or by a wise adminis- 
tration of its affairs, silenced all its enemies. 
Benevolence is a sentiment, and that sentiment 
finds its expression in a thousand forms, each 
form being tinged and colored by the mind 
through which it acts. It is the glory of any 
associated philanthropic body to so harmonize 
by its action, these ever varying shades of sen- 
timent, that the- mass of people may find within 
its limits, the best expression of their own per- 
sonal charities. The Sanitary Commission has 
undoubtedly been more successful in this re- 
spect, than ev.m its friends anticipated. When 
it is understood, that nearly a thousand General 
and Regimental hospitals throughout the United 
States are supplied from this Central source, and 
that this source is replenished solely by volun- 
tary charities, the wonder is, that it has accom- 
plished so much, and incurred so little reproach. 
An extract from a letter written by its President, 
says : 

" The cause grows more needy every day. The 
cries for aid are more urgent and heart-rending. 
All we can do leaves enormous suflfering behind, 
and manj' are so blind as to hold us responsible 
for the misery we have not the means to allevi- 
ate. We are all the while Judged bi/ tvhat we do 
not do ; not as we should be, by what we do. No 
matter if we relieve 10,000 — if there remain 
5,000 unrelieved, it is our fault ! as if any volun- 
teering, self-sustaining agency, could do all his." 

Rev. Dr. Hosmer of Bulialo, who was appoint- 
ed by the General Aid Society of that city to 
visit the government hospitals and the agencies 
of the Sanitary Commission, in an able and com- 
prehensive report just published, takes occasion 
to allude to another charge svhich has been made 
against the Commission, that a large per centage 
of the goods consigned to them, are either lost 
on the way or misappropiiated through dishon- 
est persons connected with the hospitals. He 
says : 

" It will be seen at once that so large a busi- 
ness, made up of so many items, and coming 
together from so many places, must be managed 
methodically and with thoroughness, or great 
waste and loss must be; and there are stories 
about goods sold at auction on the way, and 
piles of goods at Washington wasting and ex- 
posed to depredation. There is an excellent 
method and a thorough business energy in carry- 
ing it out. There is exact care, supervision and 
book-keeping. I think there is no large busi- 
ness firm in Buffalo that conducts its atfairs with 
a more careful method than does this Sanitary 
Commission. I looked through their books, ar,d 
went to see the whole operation of their method. 
I saw their depots, and their agents, at Wash- 
ington ; and by the way, I felt ashamed, when 
I saw these agents, so capable, so faithful, many 



of them superior men, nobly giving their servi- 
ces for small remuneration, or even gratuitously ; 
to think of suspicions entertained, and rumors 
in circulation ; I saw the goods in every step of 
their transit, and I say it is impossible that there 
should be much loss or waste of goods, while 
passing from the homes of the givers to the 
hospitals and battle fields where the sick and 
wounded are. 

" Now, as to the delivery of these goods, it may 
be asked, What more do we know about them 7 
The Commission have given them out in their 
best discretion, but are they not wasted in the 
hospitals, camps, or on the battle fields? Pos- 
sibly they are sometimes ; possibly some wretch 
may have got a place in a hospital, and sold a 
shirt to a poor sick wounded soldier, or eaten up 
a pot of jelly that charity has .£ent to suffering 
patients. There may be some such cases, but 
who can believe they are frequent? The Com- 
mission do all they can to prevent such mean 
stealing. 

" The work of the Commission is not confined 
to this gathering and delivery of goods. Per- 
haps even a greater service they are doing for 
the sick and wounded by their medical and san- 
itary inspection of camps and hospitals. From 
the beginning they have had sixteen medical 
inspectors, men of professional ability, who 
have spent all their time in passing from camp 
to camp, and hospital to hospital. They are 
provided with a printed list of one hundred 
and eighty questions, all about the hospital or 
camp, position, diet, supplies, surgeons, nurses, 
cleanliness, economy of means, &c., and these 
lists, filled out with answers to the questions, 
are sent to the main office, and if they report 
gross abuse, or want of fidelity, the case is at 
once laid before the Surgeon General. 

" Does this do any good ? A few days ago 
one of these medical inspectors reported at the 
office that in a certain hospital he saw the sur- 
geon lying drunk on a settee, and patients suf- 
fering for proper care. The report went at once 
to the Surgeon General ; that very night the de- 
linquent was summoned to appear before his su- 
perior the next morning, and was found guilty 
and dismissed from service ! and most probably 
wherever he be, is reporting mischievous stories 
about the Sanitary Commission, as a " maelstrom 
of munificence" and an " impertinent meddler." 

The action of the Albany Association, with 
reference to other charitable organizations out- 
side the Sanitary Commission, having been some- 
what commented upon, it seems to be proper for 
us, in defining our position, to give our reasons 
fur the course we have pursued. To those who 
would complain of our action as beiug too rigid 
for a benevolent society, having for its olject 
only the comfort and welfare of the soldier in 
hospital, it is but necessary to state that our 
Association was formed as an auxiliary branch of 
the Sanitary Commission, and it is in direct and 
constant communication with it. As it is pub- 
licly pledged to assist and sustain that Commis- 
sion, it can neither change its action nor divert 
its supplies without an entire re-organization as 
a society. 



Occupying no antagonistic position toward 
either State or private Relief societies, it still 
adheres iirmly to the conviction that private 
charities must, from their very nature, be nar- 
row, and often injudicious and unwise, while 
State Relief societies, however well-meaning and 
benevolent they may be, are still vicious in their 
tendencies, because they reco2nize in their chari- 
ties what the Southern States have recognized in 
their politics, the heresy of " State rights." 

In a leiter from the Secretary of the Commis- 
sion to us, on this subject, he truly says (and as 
a society we cordially and fully indorse his sen- 
timents) : " It is very true, as we know from 
hiigh authority, that he who does not care for his 
own household is worse than an infidel, but in 
such a crisis as has overtaken the national life, 
the bounds of the household enlarge until they 
touch the circumference of the loyal territory at 
every point, and every loyal man and woman 
should look upon every soldier in the Union army 
as a brother, battling for his or her own life- 
blood, and to be cherished accordingly, whether 
that brother comes from the shores of the east- 
ern Atlantic, or western Pacific, or central lake. 
If I am asked to give a reason why the gifts of 
the nation should be entrusted to this Commis- 
sion, rather than to State or City societies, I say 
that a sufficient reason to give any loyal man or 
woman is, that this organization only, is regard- 
less of local lines and sectional sympathies; that 
it asks not and cares not whether the Union sol- 
dier to whom it gives the stockings, knit by the 
trembling fingers of the grandmother, or the 
jelly, prepared by the young girl — that it knows 
not whether he comes from Maine or Minnesota; 
it knows only that he is an American soldier, 
who has poured out his blood for the Union. 
Neither does it stop to consider whether Iowa or 
New York have contributed most to its store- 
houses or treasury, believing that each has given 
of its best, whether out of its poverty or its 
riches ; and that the pallid young sufferer whose 
life is bleeding away on this mattress, is as wor- 
thy of its comforts and assiduities, as his dying 
neighbor on the next mattress, though the 
widowed mother of the first, gave but her mite 
out of her poverty, while the father of the other 
gave his gold." 

The committee cannot close this report, with- 
out again acknowledging its indebtedness to the 



" faithful few " who have so cheerfully aided it, 
in cutting out and making up the garments that 
have been sent to the Commission during the 
past year. When work accumulated, an appeal 
to them for service was never made in vain, and 
in hours of discouragement, when the fact of an 
empty treasury was coupled with a consciousness 
that in Albany the field of voluntary charity was 
pretty thoroughly gleaned, their energy and 
hopefulness gave to the cause a fresh impetus 
and charm. Our thanks are also due to the 
children of some of our public schools (partic- 
ularly schools No 6, 10 and 11), to those of the 
Catholic Parish schools and Sisters of Charity, 
and the Industrial school. Those of us who 
have been at the City Hall and attended to the 
giving out of work, can scarcely forget the little 
eager faces that have thronged about our Re- 
ceiving room, importunate in their demands, 
jealous lest others more favored, should " do 
more for the soldiers" than they. To the ladies 
of the Receiving Committee, we are especially 
indebted. Their prompt and accurate perform- 
ance of every duty imposed upon them, has 
materially lightened the labors of the Executive 
Committee, and the intercourse, necessarily close 
and intimate between the two bodies, has been 
uniformly marked by the greatest kindness and 
consideration. No duty, however slight, has 
been neglected by them, no opportunity for ser- 
vice allowed to pass unimproved. In closing 
this Report of our labors for the past year, we 
should be doing the cause injustice, did we fail 
to pay this passing tribute to their efficiency and 
worth. 

Mks. E. D. morgan, 
" WM. B. SPRAGUE, , 
« S. T. SEKLY, 
" RAY PALMER, 
« A. D. MAYO, 
" J. McNAUGHTON, 
« CHAS. M. JENKINS, 
" JOHN TAYLOR, 
•' JACOB LANSING, 
" JAMES HALL, 
" GEORGE H. THACHKE, 
« ELI PERRY, 
" A. RANSOM, 
" OTIS ALLEN, 
" GEORGE B. STEELE, 
Miss CATHARINE PRUYN, 
Mes. WILLIAM BARNES, 

Executive Committtt. 



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